Parker slows down in time to contribute

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has spent most of the 11 years Tony Parker has been with the team beseeching him to leverage his speed and aggression.

The key for Parker in the Spurs’ 101-98 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference finals matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder was to slow down just a tad.

Parker shouldered the blame for the Spurs’ 14 first-half turnovers — just four shy of their playoff high in the first eight postseason games — saying he tried to do too much too quickly.

“It started with me,” he said. “I didn’t make good decisions; a little bit in a hurry. That comes with not playing for a week.

“I was a little bit going too fast, getting in trouble. I take responsibility for that.”

Parker had four of the 14 first-half turnovers and only six points and three assists. He recovered nicely in the second half, scoring 12 points, finishing with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. He outscored Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, his fellow-second team All-NBA guard, by a point.

Split decision: The Spurs got a major boost in the first 21/2 minutes of the fourth quarter from Tiago Splitter, who scored five points during an 8-2 run that started the team’s comeback from a nine-point deficit when the quarter began.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and take advantage of the situation, rolling to the basket on the pick-and-roll and trying to stretch their defense a little bit. I know that Tony and Manu (Ginobili) are always going to find you when you are open, and I just did the easy part — put it in the basket.”

It could have been an even better stretch had he not missed three of the four free throws he was awarded. Splitter missed 4 of 5 foul shots in the game, dropping his playoff free throw percentage to 32 percent.

“Well, for sure it is mentally tough because I am making them in practice,” he said. “It’s got to be easy to shoot it like I do in practice. I don’t even want to think about it because it’s not about my technique. It’s all about my mind. I just have to be fresh enough to go there, step up and make free throws.”

Interest in Lindsey: The Yahoo! Sports website reported that Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey is among the basketball executives expected to interview this week for Orlando’s general manager position that opened when the Magic parted ways last week with Otis Smith.

Troy Weaver, the Thunder’s assistant general manager, also was mentioned as a party the Magic want to interview.

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford declined to comment on whether the Spurs have granted the Magic permission to speak with Lindsey.

Another challenge: Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard took on another huge challenge in Game 1, defending NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant.

The 20-year-old from San Diego State did the bulk of the defensive work on Durant in the first half, during which Durant scored 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting.

“I think I did an all right job,” Leonard said. “I just tried to make it tough on him out there. He still scored a lot of points, but that’s all you can do against a scorer like him. That’s why he led the league in scoring for the past three years.”

Leonard said he was happy to sit the entire fourth quarter and watch how veteran Stephen Jackson limited Durant during the Spurs’ 39-27 domination of the period.

“I guess he was trying to limit his touches,” Leonard said. “He just wanted to get stops on him.”